Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Essex

Inspection report children's home: 1258092 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for four children. The children may have experienced neglect and/or emotional abuse or had traumatic experiences that have left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 23 September 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1258092 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/09/2019 Full Good 19/06/2018 Full Good 13/12/2017 Full Good

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build trusting relationships with the staff. Staff respond to children sensitively. The home’s chosen model of care means that children develop a sense of safety and belonging despite their difficult pasts. High levels of nurturing and strong commitment from staff mean that children living at this home make very good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are listened to. Some of the children have communication difficulties and they are enabled to share their feelings through methods that are individual to them. Staff look out for non-verbal signs from the children and respond to these sensitively. Care from staff who are highly attuned to the children’s needs helps the children to feel understood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some of the children enjoy yoga classes. At bedtime, children are settled by listening to stories and sharing calming one-to-one activities with the staff. Picture books covering topics of loss and worry help children to work through previous traumatic experiences. These measures help to create a soothing environment for children who struggle to manage their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s bedrooms are personalised. Some of the children have planted flowers in the garden. One child has a pet goldfish. Another child, who is missing his pet, has been given a lifelike toy cat to help him manage his feelings of loss. Allowing children to personalise their environment and have pets help them to develop a sense of belonging and enjoy everyday childhood experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into the home through carefully planned transitions. A social worker praised the staff for their attention to detail when making arrangements for a new child to live at the home. When children leave, all staff are involved in supporting a smooth transition. The staff wrote individual letters to a child who was moving. A member of staff travelled with him and helped him unpack and settle into his new surroundings. Inspection report children's home: 1258092 3 The children are supported to attend education. Some of the children have complex needs. Staff work creatively to enable them to access educational experiences at the home and in the community. The manager advocates strongly for any child who is not in education. This helps children to achieve their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children to attend medical appointments. Children learn about food and are encouraged to exercise. This helps the children to live a healthy lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some of the children’s bathrooms have been refitted. However, one child’s bathroom requires attention. The landing needs decorating. The lounge carpet is stained and needs replacing. Not addressing maintenance jobs quickly means that the environment is not of an acceptable standard.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children have individual risk assessments that are regularly updated. High levels of supervision by the staff mean that the children are protected from harming themselves and that any potential risks that arise from the children’s relationships with each other are mitigated. Children who were at risk before coming to live at the home are safer.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Restraint is only used when needed to keep children or others safe. Detailed debriefs and reflection with managers take place following incidents. Staff successfully de- escalate situations and always look to use the least restrictive measures, which helps children to manage their behaviour safely.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff encourage positive behaviour. Children are rewarded for making good choices and receive help to manage their difficult feelings. Children have opportunities to talk about their worries. Therapeutic discussions following incidents create space for relationships to be repaired.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Disclosures made by children are passed to the designated officer quickly. The manager follows up on any concerns raised by children. This helps to keep children safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children are supported to take age-appropriate risks. However, on one occasion, a child was left unsupervised while using a sharp knife. This was not in line with the home’s kitchen risk assessment. On becoming aware of the situation, another staff member intervened.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced and longstanding manager sets high standards for herself and for those working at the home. She ensures that the ethos of the home is understood and that the home’s statement of purpose is delivered effectively. The management team builds strong relationships with professionals. Inspection report children's home: 1258092 4 Staff enjoy working at the home. They feel supported and say that managers are accessible. During an outbreak of coronavirus at the home, the staff worked together to ensure that the children received good-quality care from a stable and committed team of staff who remained at the home during a period of isolation. Staff work together to ensure that positive relationships are modelled to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Careful recruitment practices ensure that children are cared for safely by staff with relevant experience. Some of the staff have relevant degree qualifications and backgrounds in caring for children who have experienced trauma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A learning culture is embedded. Staff receive relevant training and access specialist resources provided by the manager to aid staff’s learning. Reflective practice sessions are held at the end of each shift to share good practice and develop staff competence. However, some supervision records do not detail discussions about the children or agreed actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the children’s progress and the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Systems are in place for monitoring the home. However, some visits by the independent visitor were carried out remotely without clear rationale. This reduces the effectiveness of this independent safeguarding mechanism.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 7 June 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1258092 5 ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, promptly repair damage to the home and ensure that furniture and floor coverings are of good quality and suitable to meet the child’s individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments for keeping children safe in the kitchen are followed. 7 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced. 7 June 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1258092 6 The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions is kept and that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children's home: 1258092 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Angela Weston, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1258092 8 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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